History

The idea of The Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE) can be traced back to the year 1981. That year, at the Olympic Congress in Baden-Baden, Olympic Committees of eight small European states met for the first time to exchange impressions and work out ways to organize games especially designed for the size of their states. It was a widespread opinion that such Games could promote the spirit and the vision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), as well as strengthen the friendship between the participating countries.

The GSSE were founded on the initiative of J.A. Samaranch, former President of the IOC. The decision was taken during the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984 and the statutes and technical regulations were drawn up. These Games are held, with little exceptions, in accordance with the rules and regulations of the international federations and the Olympic Charter and are supported by the European Olympic Committee (EOC).

The first Games took place in San Marino in 1985. European countries with a population of less than one million inhabitants can participate, if they have an autonomous Olympic committee and are members of the IOC. Participating countries are nine. Eight of them have a population of less than one million people. Now Cyprus has a population over one million, but had a population below one million in 1984. These countries are: Andorra, Cyprus, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro and San Marino. All the countries have participated since 1985, except Montenegro, which participated for the first time in 2011.

The Games take place every two years in one of the nine participating countries: